When you write a song like this, are you thinking of people from your life or thinking of an archetype?

Any character that you come up with is equal parts yourself or people you know, for the most part. Characters are in a large part yourself as you imagine yourself in lived situations. I can't imagine any writer coming up with something that's pure character. I think that's the most interesting thing about writers of science fiction. They're dreaming up people that are not human at all. But I think when you write, you end up talking about yourself and other people you know no matter how hard you try not to.

India Real Time interviews singer-songwriter Fin Greenwall of Fink about the country's indie music scene.

WSJ: Based on your experience – from visiting the sets of "Indian Idol," a televised singing competition, to sharing the stage with as many as 60 indie bands – do you think India is opening up to non-Bollywood, independent music?

Mr. Greenall: The transition is definitely happening. And it's coming from the youth up, it's coming from the kids. The Internet is fantastic. They can use the Internet to explore a track just as easily as I can. There’s this whole DIY Metal Scene brewing in India and it's getting a good amount of international attention.

Keyes used to be outraged by the way her novels were lumped in with chick lit; these days, she feels much more pragmatic about it. "I used to feel misunderstood. There was one journalist, I remember her name, who described Rachel's Holiday as forgettable froth, and it's not," she says. "It's quite brutal. I thought it was a serious book. A comic book, but it was still a book about addiction and recovery."

Amazon MP3 is adding five holiday songs to its free mp3 downloads every day through the end of the year.